Time: 7:30 p.m.
Records: East 5-1, 1-0 NPC; Carson 4-2, 1-0 NPC
Series: Tied 1-1
Last meeting: Carson won 33-21 in 2008
Last time East beat Carson: Mustangs won 27-0 in 2007
Last week: East edged West Iredell 17-14 on a late field goal; Carson crushed Statesville 40-14
Next week: East is at Statesville; Carson is at West Rowan
Game notes: The teams didn’t meet in Carson’s first year of competition in 2006. The series began with an East romp over the winless Cougars in 2007. Carson evened the series with a convincing victory last season despite three TDs by East senior Ben DeCelle.
Obviously, this will be the biggest meeting of the teams so far.
East is on a roll with four straight wins, matching the four straight it won to open the 2007 season. East’s last five-game winning streak occurred in 1998.
It should be noted that none of the six teams the Mustangs have played so far own a winning record ó Salisbury is 3-3 ó but East’s win to open league play came against a decent West Iredell squad. East also has beaten Concord and Hickory Ridge, teams that figure to be involved in the fight for third place in the SPC behind A.L. Brown and Northwest Cabarrus.
East ranks second in the county in scoring defense (14.7 points per game). Lineman Sam Sherman is one of the leaders for the Mustangs.
Carson’s offense ranks second in the county. The Cougars, who are getting good work from Jacorian Brown on both sides of the ball, average 314 yards per game, with 224 coming on the ground.
Carson junior tailback Shaun Warrenenters the contest with 996 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.